


The Library Card

by orphan_account



Category: South Park
Genre: It's short but so sweet you'll need a root canal!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 13:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15753000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tweek's ingenious, but we already knew that.Craig thinks he's ingenious, but he's probably going to land himself in the hospital- again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tweek’s got a lot going for him, he supposes. He’s in the fifth grade. He’s married, and has got a nice groovy mood ring to prove it. And a husband too, but most people (his classmates) only care about the ring. It was the most expensive one Craig could find in Breckenridge, but that’s besides the point. He has a son, named Stripe, who is cooler than any other guinea pig on the planet. Did he mention that he’s married? His husband is great. Life is great. But there’s just one thing…

“Mom, can I get a library card?”

Mrs. Tweak, who normally didn’t like interruptions during her Candy Crush time, looked up from her iPad. “Why? You can use my card anytime you’d like, dear. Do we need to go back to the library today?”

She was right, and while he did quite enjoy using her card, he knew he had to get a card of his own. He swallowed, and rolled on his heels. “Well, I’d just think that I’m getting older and that I’m ready to have my own account. I _do_ get a lot of guinea pig books. And airplane model guides, and movies that Craig and I watch. And CD’s too.”

She paused her game and her iPad down. “You do have a point…” She tapped her husbands foot underneath the table, “What do you think, dear?”

Mr. Tweak set down his newspaper. “I think it’s a great idea. A library card, like a-”

“Thank you Dad!”

“Oh,” Richard straightened up. “You’re welcome.”

Soon after the decision was made, it was acted upon. A few hours later, to be exact. He entered his little air conditioned haven in stride, but this time the scent of all the old books had made him anxious instead of comforted him. He had big plans, and the card itself seemed miniscule compared to it all. After handing over her account information, Mrs. Tweak left her son and the Librarian alone to finalize the process and roamed around the shelves. Tweek wished he had brought Craig with him, but Craig would’ve ruined Tweek’s plan. He couldn’t keep any secrets, and Tweek couldn’t keep this from him. Plus, he could get arrested, probably. He needed Craig to bail him out, not go to jail with him.

The Librarian kept asking all these questions, and she was so intimidating that he almost couldn’t answer. _Was getting a card even worth it_? Tweek gulped. _Of course it was. It will be. Hopefully._ The bulb of a camera flashed in his face, and his smile dropped. She printed out a piece of a paper, and smacked her old finger down upon it. “Sign here.”

Tweek inhaled. This was it. Now or never. He felt sweat bead on his forehead, wait no, that was just his hair tickling him. He looked around for his mother, to make sure she wouldn’t be able to see him. The librarian coughed, which snapped him back to attention.

He lifted up the pen, and in the cursive he had practiced well over a hundred times- signed on the line.

 _Tweek Tucker_.

The pen lifted up, and he let out the air he hadn’t realized he was holding. The Librarian hadn’t noticed the difference in name, and walked over to the laminator. She cut out the new card, and handed it over to Tweek. “You’re all set. Welcome to the Library.”

At that, she left him, but he couldn’t move. The card was still warm from the press, and felt like a heavy weight in his hands. Everything looked so official- it _was_ official, but seeing the name “Tucker” next his face on this plastic little card made his heart soar. Tweek Tucker. That was _him_. No more Tweek Tweak. That was a hideous name that only birds should say, which he was not. He couldn’t control his grin which had spread from ear to ear. His little "wedding" band felt like it was on fire (in the best way). He thought about showing this new document, new source of identification, to Craig, and what his reaction would be. It sent a shiver of excitement down Tweek's spine. He had to go to Craig, right _now._

He found his mom a few isles away, and she was caught by surprise when he ran to her. She hoped he wouldn't notice the titles of the books, but he paid their location little mind and tugged on her sleeve instead. “I’ve got to go hang out with Craig, Mom!” She sighed in relief. “Aren’t you going to get any books with your new card?”

“No-" _Shit._ He needed to seem calmer, or else she'd get suspicious. "I can come back anytime because I have a card now... let's go!”

_Craig was going to lose his shit, and Tweek was so excited he wanted to scream._


	2. Chapter 2

Craig had been home, sitting at his desk, when he heard Tweek enter the house down stairs. Knocking was for friends, not boyfriends, or fiancés, or husbands. Craig puffed up his chest. Yeah, he was a _husband_ now. Well, not legally, he knew he couldn’t get officially married until he was 18 (he had conducted a thorough investigation), but he could get rings for the two of them and call it a marriage. Which they happily did.

Craig got them mood ring bands in the Ski Town north of them, for a whopping seven bucks a piece. It had nearly emptied his wallet but it had been worth it when he saw the smile on Tweek’s face. Craig had picked mood rings over any other type of ring because he knows that they change color based on temperature, not mood.

Last winter, Tweek had had a fever and they didn’t know about it and Craig _really_ did not like knowing. As Tweek’s husband, he feels like it’s his duty to keep Tweek healthy, so dragging Tweek to sled in the quarry even though he was ill really messed with Craig’s heart. But now, if Tweek’s ring is really bright pink it means not that he’s in love, but rather that he’s probably dying. Or at least, Craig needs to get them to an adult. Craig’s ring can also tell Tweek if Craig is ill and dying, but Craig thinks that he can tell when he has a fever. He finds it a bit weird that Tweek can’t, and he doesn’t want to hurt Tweek’s feelings so he just hasn’t told him about the real reasoning behind the mood aspect of the rings.

But Tweek was downstairs chatting up Tricia, and Craig felt obliged to come downstairs to greet his husband. But right as he opened his bedroom door to step out, Tweek had practically run into him, dropped his pack, and enveloped Craig in a hug.

Now, when Tweek closed his eyes and envisioned peace, it was in happy little garden filled with exotic flora and puppies (or so he told Craig). But when Craig closed his eyes and imagined peace, it was in a hug with Tweek. Tweek had never been shy with soft affection, and Craig couldn’t be more grateful for it. It was like hugging Stripe or even a full blown dog but a million times better, and he didn’t give a damn what his friends thought about it. Tweek always hugged him like Craig was his lifeline, and it tugged at Craig’s heartstrings everytime- not that he’d admit it ever. It took Craig a second to recoup after nearly being toppled over, but he hugged Tweek back and relaxed his muscles.

“I love you.” Tweek sighed and squeezed harder.

 _Hmm_ , Craig thought, _something is wrong_. “I love you too...” he held Tweek back and gave him a once-over. “Are you feeling okay?” Tweek gave him a puzzled expression.

“Does something need to be wrong for me to tell my husband I love him?”

“No... just wondering...” Craig looked down at Tweek’s wedding band, and noticed that it was a bright pink rather than the normal calm blue. He gasped, and grabbed Tweek’s hand to pull the ring closer. “You’re pink! Shit!”

Tweek blushed, feeling like he had been caught even though he had just told Craig he loved him. But wait, did Craig swear? “What?”

Craig put his hand on Tweek’s forehead, and it _did_ feel a little sweaty. “Are you feeling okay? Do you have a fever?”

“A fever? No!”

Not like Tweek would know, Craig thought. “We’ve got to get you to the Doctor’s, you’re running a-”

“No!” Tweek grabbed his bag off the floor, walked past Craig, and plopped down on Craig’s bed. “I’m excited, is all. I’ve got something to show you.” Tweek grinned and his smile practically wiped Craig out. He always felt weak in the knees when Tweek smiled at him... maybe it was Craig who needed the Doctor. Craig knew he didn’t though. He got that clarified right when he first started dating Tweek... he went to the doctors because he felt sick whenever he was around his boyfriend but his Doctor had to tell him that his symptoms were actually what happens when you feel love (thank God nobody knows about it, though). Tweek patted the spot next to him on the bed, and Craig quickly sat down.

He watched as Tweek opened his backpack, and pulled out his wallet. He handed it over to Craig. “Open it.”

Craig looked over, raised an eyebrow, and took it. Nothing seemed different, it wasn’t like he had won the lottery and had it stuffed with money... but he opened it anyways. In the clear slot for the identification card was an actual card. Craig didn’t even have that yet. He slipped the card out of the insert and held it up closer to inspect it.

A library card. How about that. Craig was proud, but he wasn’t sure what was supposed to catch his attenti- _oh_.

On the signature line, Tweek’s elegant cursive read ‘ _Tweek Tucker_ ’.

Craig was glad he was sitting down, and had the headboard behind him. Also, that Tweek was next to him because that gave Craig something to hold onto, which was what he did. Tweek barked out a laugh when Craig grabbed his thigh, and made a comment asking Craig if he liked it, but Craig couldn’t hear anything. Tweek Tucker! It looked so regal and important and real. Like it was a real document, like they actually had gotten married, and that Tweek really did change his name to Tucker. Craig’s heart clenched in a way that made him wonder if he really should go back to the doctor, “puppy love” be damned.

Tweek gasped. “Are you crying?”

Craig sobered up. “What?”

Tweek reached up and brushed a tear out of Craig’s eye. “Oh, baby. I didn’t know it’d affect you this much.”

 _Baby_. Craig’s stomach flipped. He never thought in a million years he’d like being called baby, but Tweek could call him anything and it’d sound like it was an angel’s prayer. “No, it-” Craig stopped himself, recalling how he could tell Tweek how he felt. How he _should_ tell Tweek what he feels. He rested his head on top of Tweek’s and sighed. “I wish it was real, I mean, for everything. I wish we could live together and I wish we could sit at the same group in class and I wish you didn’t have to work because-” Craig felt like he was going to cry more. “I just love you, a lot.”

Tweek rested his hand on top of Craig's, which was still on his thigh. “I know Craig. You don’t have to tell me anything more, okay? I don’t want you working yourself too hard trying to get it out.”

Craig laughed. _Of course_.

They spent the rest of the evening doing what they normally do, which meant playing with Stripe, playing video games, Tweek falling asleep on Craig halfway through the battle they were supposed to be fighting in their video game- but Craig didn’t mind.

When Tweek finally left, Craig looked down at his ring, and noticed that it had turned bright pink. He balked.

 _Had he been having a fever this whole time_?

A fever for Tweek, he concludes.  

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr @sleekcreek


End file.
